Daemon was relieved that the soldier had called for the sentries to point their guns elsewhere. He made a face at the call for him to leave Kain. "If it's all the same to you, I'll wait here until you can get him down here. No offense, but I'm not exactly thrilled by the idea of leavin' Kain here by himself." He gave a sheepish smile, adding, "Or walking into the thick of a military camp, to begin with." Hopefully the wait wouldn't be too long, but even if it was, at least said wait would be with Kain, instead of surrounded by strangers who also happened to be soldiers.

Casters and their machines. It was hardly the first time Mary had seen one overly attached to their metal compatriots. She supposed she understood; she wouldn't want to simply leave her cherished, specialized, and one-of-a-kind long gun in just anybody's hands, or out in the open where she wasn't around to watch it. There was something more about warpieces, though. Mary might pretend sometimes that her gun knew her better than she did, but a warpiece possessed the magical capacity to at least act out emulations of such emotion. As the scout turned back to the guide on his request and considered it, she found herself wondering what her gun would be like if it could act of its own accord.

She decided she liked her gun better as an inanimate object.

"Fine. Stay here," she told him with a nod, before flagging down a few passing marines and instructing them to ensure Daemon didn't wander too far off, and that any basic needs he had were tended to.

Meanwhile, she jogged off to the command structure to inform Judas of his guest. When she reached the guards at the front, however, she was informed that the famous caster had taken his leave for the depot... mostly back the way she had come. That was okay, she figured. It'd been about a week since she'd really gotten her circulation going, as she'd been on one airship or another, or standing guard here or there. They were likely going to move out soon, so she needed to get limbered up in case there was any rugged terrain crossing in her near future. So, she doubled back and made for the depot. After a bit of searching, she finally found the middle-aged warrior mage in the midst of a throng of warpieces, mechanics, and porters.

"Caster Haas," she called, as she quickly closed to a comfortable speaking distance. Once she had the man's attention -- she hardly thought her business was important enough to interrupt any conversations he might have been already having -- she continued, "We found a mercenary caster, sir. Says he's a guide you called for a job. Daemon. Brought a superheavy."

_________________

Listening intently, Carrie walks beside Olivia to the train. She listens to her battlefield tales and gives a little chuckle. "Well, if you're looking for something with a lot of firepower and the ability to take down larger targets, I'd go for a Hunter class warpiece, perhaps with a missile pod and a siege drill. The XV-5 is a flexible Hunter type you could begin with." She ponders Olivia's roll of battle. "I've killed two casters by my own hand and three with Carnivore. Mostly apprentices, but Carnivore took down an arcanist from Redloch last year." She looked at Olivia with a smile. "I may only be on journeyman level, but as a soldier I have eight years of service. Medic, mechanic, scout, warpiece puppeteer. I've learnt a lot these years." She smiled at Olivia as they approached the train, gesturing her to load up the wagon. "Make no mistake, Olivia. Out here, you're a soldier first and a caster second. If you can't live by that rule, bad things will happen. So take care."

_________________
My RPs:
War on the Bloodfountain[OOC] / War on the Bloodfountain[IC]
Variamundum's Apocalypse
The Shards United!..?
SuperVillain Weekly OOC / SuperVillain Weekly IC
Sengoku Jidai: Aspiring Daimyo

The platform was made of flagstone, sentries patrolled along the edges along with an officer with a checkboard, exiting a cargo carriage before returning to the platform and writing off several things on his list. Olivia walked up to the man after showing a guard at the entryway her documents. "We're Casters, on official duty. Judas Haas is leading us." The man's eyebrows raised when she said Judas's name.

"You'll be on carriage five. The carriage arrangement is reversed by the way, as two control cars are needed to allow two-way trips." The main pointed to one of the rear-most cars, "You can store your cargo and Warpieces in car six." The man went off, immediately slipping back to his work.

"Let's go." Olivia strolled to their carriages, ordering the mule machine to place the crate in the cargo area before severing her bond with it. Its Shell was made to cause it to return to the place where it was first bonded with the last caster. "I should learn how to carve my own Shells," she mused aloud, watching the machine exit the platform and lumber back to the depot before getting on car five. There were two benches placed along the longest walls of the carriage, of which were barely populated, four others. Three footmen and a mechanic, Olivia guessed it would appear to be a child in her early teens.

She minded her own business, sliding her bag under the bench and taking a seat.

-------

Judas was marching out of the depot with three Warpieces, the strain on his mind uncomfortable as he had to manipulate three other bodies which were not his. He stopped, glad for the break as the gunner from earlier came up to him. "Oh, him. Okay, have him show you the documents, it would have my name on it. I'll meet you at the station entrance to identify him personally. I have stuff to take care of," He pointed back at the Warpieces before continuing his route to the station. He took the most direct route towards the destination, loaded up the Warpieces before returning to the entrance to wait for Daemon. There was one more, another mechanic he had handpicked, not for her eccentricities but her skills and slight arcane ability displayed in previous operations with him.

_________________
Status: Active

Mildred didn't mean to ignore the help. She really hadn't, but she was just so focused on the birds and harvesting what was usable that when a hand was placed on her shoulder, she nearly had a heart attack. Spinning around to glare at the poor messenger, she nearly throttled the guy as he delivered his message. "Why didn't you find me sooner!" Calling him a few choice words under her breath, she grabbed her bag and rushed out of her tent. That would probably explain where most of the people had gotten too. Why they needed her on the train as well was a mystery to her, but she wasn't about to ignore a direct order from higher up. Or an indirect order since it didn't come from the horse's mouth so to speak.

Nearly skidding into one of the sentry's on the platform, she had to apologize. And get a lecture about running and manners. Which she only really half listened to if she was being completely honest. Once she got the info she needed though, she bounded onto the train and quickly took a seat anywhere. She had made it. Even if it was last minute, she had made it.

"Yes, sir," the gunner smartly replied, with a salute.

It seemed Mary had more jogging to do. It was fine; she was in good shape, and at least this time she didn't have to jog completely across the camp and back. Stopping only to grab her rucksack from near Mildred's tent, which was on her way, she went to find where she'd left Daemon. As she approached the man, she considered how grossly feeble she must seem in this party full of casters. Even their new guide was a caster. Everybody in their team could probably sling spells, fire magical ammunition, and command the great warpieces of their day, and all she could do was pick things off from a considerable distance with her rifle, and observe. Stealth was really her only asset to the team.

Coming to a stop, Stalwart took a moment to gather her breath, before addressing Daemon. "Alright, he knows. You're coming with us. Train's leavin'. Let's go."

After a swift **** of her head, she began to hurry toward the train station, leading the way for the other. Given the fact that their airship had nearly left without their chief caster, before, she wasn't about to test the patience of their train's conductor.

_________________

Daemon blinked from his perch on Kain's back, the warpiece curled in a ball, as the gunner from before came back at a run.

A few deep breaths of air later -how far had she had to run?- and she gasped, "Alright, he knows. You're coming with us. Train's leavin'. Let's go." She jerked her head, presumably toward the location of the train, and started jogging that direction.

Torn between amusement and bewilderment, he hopped off Kain's back, the wyvern uncurling as soon as he had. Jogging to catch up with the woman was easy- traveling the distances he did, over the kind of terrain he did meant he was fit out of neccesity. "Take it that your transport specialists leave on time regardless of whether the passengers are on board?" He asked dryly. Someone behind them yelping in shock as Kain swerved around them as they exited a tent.

The crowding that was inevitable in military camps lessened as they made the trip, fading to just sentries, messengers as the train station came into view. He slowed, mentally urging Kain to do the same- no sense in potentially running over some poor sod stuck with ferrying last minute messages to and fro. Daemon arched an eyebrow at the amount of sentries both around the entrance, and inside the station proper- they took security seriously.

And standing at the entrance was the man who had hired him- Judas Haas, whom he knew by word of feats, for all he had faked ignkrance to the sentries. They approached the man, and Daemon twitched, resisting old habits as he came to a halt in front of the man. Kain sat behind him, resting his head on Deamon's left shoulder, staring at the graying man warily. After a moments hesitation caused by fighting down muscle memory, he tucked a loose piece of hair behind his ear-he'd have to redo his braid, it seemed.

He forced himself to give a rough approximation of a smile, stating, "Well, you being here means the trains still in the station, one would hope." He hesitated wondering if he should use 'sir'- he hadn't during the meeting during which the man had hired him, but if he was going to be around the man's subordinates.... He shifted his hand to rub Kain's cheek, more to soothe himself than his friend. The Warpiece leaned into his hand, making a sound very much like a deep purr.

Judas considered Daemon's words for a second, "Or it could mean that the train has left without me. But it hasn't, Just for formality's sake, I'll check your documents first before proceeding any further." He takes the papers and glances through them to validate them before handing them back, "Seems to be in order. You'll need to part with your Warpiece due to car capacity, we have a storage car which you can load up your additional supplies, if you have them, along with your Warpiece. If that isn't a problem, then I guess we should hurry up, our operators are known for being very punctual.

He nods to the sergeant before walking off, "Appreciate the help." He frowns, turning to face her after walking a few steps, "What are you supposed to be doing? Don't you have an attachment to a company or something?"

------

Olivia watched as a lady sprinted onto the platform an entered their carriage, she raised an eyebrow, rising to her full height, "And who might you be?" The carriage shouldn't be so crowded, unless... Judas starts hording talent again.

_________________
Status: Active

Daemon took back the stack of papers, tucking them back inside the inner pocket of his armor. He gave a brief wave of acknowledgement to the woman who had escorted him, wondering if she had been reassigned to Haas without the man being told. If so, he wouldnt be surprised if it was becuse of her prosthetic- he'd seen superiors play hot potato with people who had prosthetics, whether from bigotism or genuine fear the mechanisms in it would fail at an inopportune time. He trotted off in the direction of the train, Kain close behind. It took a moment to convince one of the sentries that, yes, he really had been hired by Judas Haas, and yes he really needed to know which compartment was storage.

Inside the correct compartment, he dropped the waterproofed duffel bag on the ground setting the hard case on the ground more gently, and waited until Kain was inside. Once the Warpiece had curled up into the position he usually assumed for the process, Daemon checked to make sure that he would be working unsurveyed. Satisfied that he would be, he opened the hardcase and got to work. It was few minutes of heavily practiced work to transfer Kain's shell from the larger frame to the smaller one.

The wyvern walked around the compartment, adjusting to his smaller size as Daemon closed up the larger frame so it was impossible to tell where he had opened the frame to make the exchange. The much smaller wyvern made a trill, hopping to get high enough to fly. One lap around the cargo room, and he landed on Daemon's shoulder, the caster so used to the sudden landings that he didn't even wobble as he made sure that the larger frame would be secured. Kain crossed from his left shoulder to the right as he stood up, draping his tail over the white haired man's shoulder.

Daemon turned to give a smile to the small Warpiece, rubbing under his chin with a finger as he tried to remember which door would lead to the passenger compartment. Then he remembered he would have to jump one of those blasted gaps between carriages even if he did remember, and decided that he would do the more sane thing for once. He left the carriage through the door that opened onto the station, ignoring the stares directed at Kain as he prodded an answer out of one of the bewildered sentries in regards to which carriage was correct.

Answer achieved, he stepped back across the gap, this time into the passenger compartment, dropping the duffelbag and kicking it out of the way while scanning the compartment idly as he moved to wait against a wall. Three mechanics, and a caster, in this compartment, plus Haas and himself. He felt a sense of unease. What was the older man anticipating, that they had three mechanics, let alone three casters total? He blinked, Kain having switched shoulders yet again, jolting him out of his worry. Finally he gave a small wave to the crowding compartment, enough to acknowledge them.

Stepping into the train car, ordering Carnivore to find a suitable place in the storage car to shut down for a bit, Carrie was stunned to see how quickly new faces were popping up. In a minute of weakness, her focus had slipped, and suddenly new characters were on board. Carrie furrowed an eyebrow and addressed the two. "Hello, people. We're about to leave, so I'll keep this short and sweet - Carelza Magispark, multipurpose caster. Warpiece mechanic and medic." She nodded at Mildred and Daemon in turn, not looking like she was expecting much in terms of response. She was taut with anticipation, the self-disciplined kind of anticipation one would normally see in experienced soldiers. Finding a seat, she immediately set about the task of cleaning her weapon, making sure everything would function should the gun be needed. While she did so, she contemplated Judas' new additions to the team. I'll say, Haas has a tendency to unorthodox personell choices. Either he's overcrewing the assignment to be doubly safe, which probably means this mission is really a top-priority one, or he's expecting a shitload of trouble." It wasn't comforting either way. Carrie was more used to fighting alongside squads she had drilled and fought with before. All these people were new to her.

_________________
My RPs:
War on the Bloodfountain[OOC] / War on the Bloodfountain[IC]
Variamundum's Apocalypse
The Shards United!..?
SuperVillain Weekly OOC / SuperVillain Weekly IC
Sengoku Jidai: Aspiring Daimyo

Daemon's mild jest managed only a glance back and non-committal eyebrow-raise, as they jogged through the camp. Even in this place, her agility and training paid off, as she weaved rapidly around tents and smaller buildings, predicting the movement of people and plotting a path that she, the guide, and his warpiece could navigate efficiently without causing much damage or disruption. About halfway through the course, she recalled that she needed to get the papers from Daemon to prove his authenticity, but now that they were running like wolves on the chase, there was hardly any opportunity to ask for them or review them.

The abruptness with which Haas became stern with the scout made her take a half-step away from him, and pause before she could manage a response. Her face, still catching her breath, was overwritten with confusion. Was this ... was this because she'd forgotten to get the work papers from Daemon in her rush to get him to the train on time? The question he posed only emphasized her feeling of inferiority in the group, though she tried to swallow it for the moment.

"Sir," she began, obviously taking a moment to choose her words, "as I reported on the airship, I'm attached to you. ... With your leave, I'll board."

The fact that she already had some subtle misgivings about the former Redloch didn't help her reaction to the sentiment, but she kept it concealed well. As she hadn't been present at the officers' meeting, she only had an idea of where they were going, and not the specific mission involved, there. She had some suspicions, before, but with all the additions to the task force, Stalwart was no longer entirely sure what she was walking into. She was hoping for a more complete briefing once everyone was aboard and the train was moving.

_________________

Damn, you are growing senile. Olivia's words echoed in his head as he heard the sergeant's response. "I guess you may be right but I don't believe I have any confirmation of that. Perhaps checking with the officer at the platform could help?" Even as he said this, he detected a strange energy in her arm, "I'll accompany you, and if it is in order, then we'll board." He gestured for her to lead the way.

------

Olivia watched as Magispark introduced herself to the other occupants of the car. She shrugged to herself, no point in introducing yourself to nobodies.

There was a thud as the midget on the bench tipped off the bench onto the aisle. There was a metallic clunk as her knapsack struck the ground and her eyes opened. "Ow." With great effort, she lifted herself and got to her feet, her head rising above the back rest of the seats. "Oh hello." She waved, dropping her heavy bag on the bench before moving up to the group of them. "I'm Athena Lewis. I'm here to help, Judas had me sign up for this. Oh, and I'm supposed to be a mechanic I'm told." She trailed off, her attention obviously drifting off, then, she turned to the man with the Warpiece, "Wanna see something cool? Cooler than your Warpiece, I mean."

Oh, we got a strange one. Olivia's eyebrows arched in slight amusement.

_________________
Status: Active

Kain preened at the praise on his shoulder as Daemon arched an eyebrow at the comment. He really hoped this wasn't some trick question that would lead to an unpleasant surprise. "I don't see why not." He agreed warily, wondering why she had picked him out as the person to ask. Well, unless Kain was the reason...

And where the heck was Haas? Was it really taking this long to figure out if the gunner was assigned to the group or not?

Mildred found a corner in the quickly crowding train car. It was just like them too many people for one mission. Sighing, she leaned against the wall and studied the others. She didn't feel like much introducing herself, so she just let the others do it. Those that seem to want to anyway. Though at the introduction of the smaller female who slide off the bench, she couldn't resist the facepalm. Her rings felt cool against her skin as she held her hand there. Great. Just great. "She thinks she is a mechanic? How do you know know your profession at this stage in the game," she muttered under her breath as she watched the other. She was curious to see what this girl would do now.

It seemed strange to Mary that Haas had become so suspicious of her. Still, she had nothing to hide. Judas may not have known about her powered arm, but it was hardly a state secret. It was simply an eyesore that made her stick out from other normal soldiers, which was a bad thing, as a scout.

"Of ... course, sir," she complied, and would go with the man as he directed to confirm her orders. There, one hopes, her directive would be confirmed, and the senior caster's unease would be settled, if only for the moment.

That done, Mary would pile in with the rest of the sub-caster crew, though she preferred not to take a seat. Instead, she would stay mobile, so she could keep alert and apprised of their surroundings as the train moved. She never really trusted these trains. There was too much open, unguarded track that could easily be sabotaged, imperiling their entire company. Stalwart suspected that the only reason it hadn't been blown up already was that their enemies wished to use the train themselves, should they manage to wrest its control away from Steelshire.

She would flash a subtle smile to Carrie before proceeding on her rounds, unless the Specialist wanted to tell her anything first.

_________________

"I see, I might have missed a memo that you were transferred onto the team." Judas shrugged as he entered the carriage. "I guess more hands make light work." He took a seat, finding the car relatively empty. He noted that Athena had begun to peddle her hobbies. He turned to Mary, watching as she refused to sit, "Sorry about the confusion, I assume it's a miscommunication from the higher ups."

"Okay, look at this." Athena pulled out a small leather pouch, extracting a card from it. The card itself was created from crystal, carved into a thin, smooth slate before textured leather and metal was attached to its front and back. The pack in whole was a pack of playing cards, from zero to twenty-one, with four different types of crystals highlighting the difference in the four suites. It emanated a faint blue glow where the runes for the numbers were carved out of the leather, revealing the crystal beneath with a blue glow. "Pretty cool huh? I made them with my own hands."

"Isn't it impossible to get your hands on raw crystals by normal means?" Olivia said.

Outside, there was increased activity as the train was prepared for departure. A rumble coursed through the cars as the engine was started. "It's not impossible." Athena stated flatly.

_________________
Status: Active

Carrie shot Mildred a glare. It was a kind of judging glare, as if to say have you seen her work? No? Shut up. Mary entered the car shortly thereafter, though, so Carrie decided to keep things to herself. When her gun was clean and loaded, she gave her undivided attention to Judas, hoping for an explanation to present affairs. He didn't seem inclined to give any, however, so her attention shifted to the newly introduced mechanic. Playing cards using raw crystal. A novelty, hardly more interesting than a good warpiece. She spoke up to answer Olivia's question.

"Not impossible, but difficult. I'm interested in knowing where you found it, though." She walked over to Athena with a professional smile. "As a fellow mechanic, I'm always looking for decent materials," she explained, with a hand held out to shake.

_________________
My RPs:
War on the Bloodfountain[OOC] / War on the Bloodfountain[IC]
Variamundum's Apocalypse
The Shards United!..?
SuperVillain Weekly OOC / SuperVillain Weekly IC
Sengoku Jidai: Aspiring Daimyo

Daemon blinked as Haas and the woman who had lead him to the station boarded the train. Moments after the door shut, the train jerked forward then, shuddered into movement. There was the sound of something at least one car over landing with a thump, followed by mjted swearing. Listening to the conversation about obtaining mana crystals, he huffed in amusement, wondering what this lot would think about certain inventions at their destination. He cut in, asking the girl- teenager?- his own question, "So how do you keep the crystal from being hazardous? Something in the metal you used to plate it?"

They should probably get to the briefing, so these people weren't going in blind, but... Well, it was going to be a long train ride. Until Haas gave the order, he was perfectly content to spend time talking shop.

"The metals have some sort of protective rune on them. And, I'm not sure where you've got your information but raw crystals are only harmful in constant or large amounts of exposure." Athena replied, "The runes are rather unnecessary but I had the time to kill, so why not? We spend most of our time in transit or just waiting." She turned to Carrie, frowning slightly before reaching up and shaking her hand, "Mostly the time I had spent working for a failed research project to build a Shell from raw crystals. In the end, there was an amount of crystals left, about half a cart of it. It was too little for them to consider sending someone to bring down the crystals by hand from the mechanic's headquarters, so they decided have us keep trying with less regulations. I figured with that I might as well do something more interesting than Shells which were highly volatile." Held out a card, "And this is what I got. As for resources... I could try entering yourself into one of the mechanics' projects, they tend to rotate the mechanics after each operation, though you're a caster, which may hold different."

------

Judas waited until Athena was done with her little tale before beginning with the briefing, "We are heading to one of our camps and are helping to see to the defenses while they fortify their position and await a more permanent guard. While we are here, we will be observing the wildlife and recording our findings, mapping out the area will be done, though I hear the grove we will see at the station will quickly thicken into a forest. After the fortifications are set, we will proceed and clear a path in the woods with air support to find a mining location. I heard the Brimstone Gulf has particularly nasty surprises, so keep an eye out." He gestured to Daemon, "He has much better knowledge when dealing with wildlife, so be sure to pay attention when he says something is up. That's about it, after securing the mines for fortifications, we will return to the command camp." He did not mention the rumors he heard of abductions happening on a near-nightly basis.

_________________
Status: Active

The train lurched beneath her and Mildred braced herself. As it picked up steam, most of the people in the car seemed to relax. And why shouldn't they relax? It was gonna be a long ride and Mildred settled in to get herself a cat nap. She hadn't missed Carrie's glare at her. The older looking female ignored it. Yes. She hadn't seen what the girl could do, but she wasn't in the mood for jokes at this time. Or even playful questions. You were either a mechanic or you weren't. It was clear cut in her mind. It would have been a lot better if the girl had said she was training. Then Mildred could have seen the logic in stating she thought she was a mechanic. Maybe she even was, though the tinker doubted it. This wasn't a good place to teach trainees. At least not if you want them back alive and unbittered.

The vibrations of the engines soon had her dozing off. Not enough for a full out sleep, but enough that her surroundings were like a dull blur in the background. To say she wasn't really paying attention would have been an accurate description of her during the train ride.

After all, if they were gonna explore, they would need all the rest they could get.